Review the Real-World Case 11.1 in Chapter 11. Answer the following questions:
- How can EPCS be used to address the opioid crisis?
- How is your state addressing the opioid crisis? Which agency is in charge? What are the usage statistics?
Be sure to indicate which state you are in and cite your sources properly.
Real-World Case 11.1 Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) oversees the health information exchange activities within the state. On a quarterly basis, it publishes a dashboard of metrics regarding HIЕ activities. It has been promoting the adoption of e-prescribing since 2007. Part of the dashboard includes e-prescribing adoption and use trending data. It also shows a comparison to the national adoption and trending status. Florida has seen a steady increase in the rate of e-prescriptions since 2007. In 2017, the rate reached almost 75 percent relative to all prescriptions that could have been e-prescribed. Based on some modifications and clarification to existing federal and state regulations, Florida providers can e-prescribe controlled substances (EPCS) through EHR systems that are certified for that purpose, meaning they must not only have a certified EHR system, it must also be certified to EPCS. Pharmacies must also have certified systems to receive EPCS orders. AHCA has been collecting data on e-prescriptions of controlled substances since 2015. Since this is relatively new process, rates are low but expected to increase. As of 2017, 7.4 percent of active e-prescribers have been enabled to EPCS. The rate that pharmacies are enabled to receive EPCS is almost 87 percent.
